NAIROBI -The heavy downpour that began late Thursday night and intensified through Friday morning has left Nairobi gasping. Mombasa Road—a vital artery connecting the capital to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the industrial town of Athi River—became largely impassable. The Kenya Red Cross reported rising water levels along the highway and the Eastern Bypass, with unconfirmed reports of missing persons in the densely populated informal settlement of Mukuru kwa Njenga.
"The Easter Bypass is completely closed," a security advisory warned. "Avoid Mombasa Road and use the Nairobi Expressway instead". In a rare move, MOJA Expressway Company granted temporary toll-free access to select sections, allowing desperate motorists an escape from the gridlock.
But the crisis rippled far beyond the highway. Along Syokimau-Katani Road, floodwaters rendered the route impassable all the way to the Three-Sixty Estate. Residents reported children unable to attend school for two consecutive days, as school buses could not navigate roads that had effectively become rivers. "Katani Road is literally a river with huge potholes that small cars just cannot pass through," Pamela Mbaabu, a resident, told this publication. "Children have not gone to school for the last two days! Where are our leaders?"
On Lang'ata Road, flash floods near T-Mall swallowed a vehicle in a ditch, its occupants—including a young child—trapped before emergency responders arrived in time to pull them to safety. In Kajiado County, three individuals were rescued after their lorry became trapped in floodwaters from the swollen Kandisi River along Magadi Road. In the far north, Moyale town in Marsabit County also reported flash floods, underscoring the vast geographical reach of this crisis.
Homes Submerged, Families Displaced
For those living in the low-lying estates of Katani, Syokimau, Githunguri, Kamulu, and Airways in Mavoko sub-county, the situation was catastrophic. Over 100 households were rendered homeless after their homes and businesses were submerged. The Machakos county government evacuated affected families to safer areas, providing food and non-food items.
The 360 Apartments complex in Katani became a haunting visual—residents wading through brown water that had risen to waist level, clutching children and bags of belongings as they sought higher ground. Property worth millions of shillings has been destroyed. Walls have collapsed. Farms have vanished under standing water.
A resident, Diana Imani, painted a damning picture of neglect: "Syokimau and Katani have mostly uncovered drainage systems that are filled with reeds. The road is just pothole after pothole".
Why This Keeps Happening
To understand the flooding, one must look beyond the clouds. This is not simply a rainfall problem—it is a planning problem, an enforcement problem, and ultimately, a political problem.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has been warning for months that the city's drainage infrastructure was built for a population of 500,000. Today, more than 4.5 million people call the capital home. The original colonial-era stormwater channels, designed for light seasonal rains, are being asked to handle intense, prolonged downpours driven by a changing climate.
"We are dealing with a generational infrastructure deficit," Sakaja said in a recent interview. "There is no quick fix for this city; it is not possible".
But infrastructure deficits are only part of the equation. Across Nairobi and its satellite towns, developers have constructed homes and commercial buildings on riparian reserves and designated waterways. Machakos County Lands Executive Nathaniel Nganga was blunt in his assessment after inspecting flooded areas: "The current flooding is because the physical planning regulations were not followed".
His warning carries an implicit confession: that county governments have, for years, turned a blind eye to illegal construction, issuing approvals without due diligence. Now, residents are paying the price. Nganga has declared that surveyors and building engineers will assess affected areas, and structures found along waterways will be marked for demolition.
Waste disposal practices have compounded the disaster. Drains become clogged with garbage—plastic bottles, discarded bags, and other refuse—turning what might have been manageable runoff into instant floods. "Who dumps in those drains? Who is littering?" Sakaja has asked. "There is a responsibility all of us must bear".
A History of Broken Promises
This is far from Kenya's first flood disaster. In 2024, nationwide floods killed nearly 300 people, displaced hundreds of thousands, and destroyed entire neighbourhoods. In April 2025, flash floods struck again, killing at least seven in Nairobi alone. And just last month, more than 26 lives were lost in the capital, with 800 households displaced.
Each time, authorities promise reforms. Each time, they pledge to relocate residents from dangerous riverbanks, improve drainage, and enforce planning laws. And each time, as the water recedes, so does the urgency—until the next storm arrives.
The national government has announced an Sh8.7 billion plan to modernise Nairobi's drainage system. Roads Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir told senators that funds have been allocated under a broader Sh80 billion cooperation agreement with the city. But such large-scale infrastructure projects take years to design, procure, and construct. Meanwhile, the rains fall every season.
Civil society organisations have called for urgent reforms. "With scientific predictive models available, governments should anticipate and prepare for such eventualities," said Aggrey Aluso, executive director of the Resilience Action Network Africa. "Failure to do so shifts the burden to those least able to respond".
A Warning for the Days Ahead
The Kenya Meteorological Department has offered glimmers of relief, forecasting a significant reduction in rainfall from mid-May as the March-April-May long-rains season draws to a close. But the first week of May remains dangerous.
"Expected heavy rainfall in the first week of May increases the likelihood of river overflows, flash floods, and prolonged inundation in low-lying and downstream areas," the department warned.
Public health risks are also rising. Stagnant water in flooded neighbourhoods creates breeding grounds for mosquitoes, raising the spectre of malaria outbreaks. Contaminated water sources threaten cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases, particularly in informal settlements where sanitation infrastructure is weakest.
A Nation at a Crossroads
As the water slowly recedes from Mombasa Road, as families in Katani begin the grim work of sweeping mud from their homes, Kenya faces an uncomfortable truth: the rains will return. They always do.
The question is not whether Kenya will flood again. It is whether the country will finally treat urban planning, drainage infrastructure, and riparian enforcement as existential priorities—not afterthoughts.
For now, residents wait. They wait for leaders who promised to act. They wait for the drainage systems that never came. And they wait for the next storm, knowing it is only a matter of time.